A California Highway Patrol commander was found fatally shot at a Tennessee home, two months after her missing husband was found dead.

Julie Harding (California Highway Patrol)

Julie Harding, 49, commander for the Yuba-Sutter area of the CHP, was under investigation for possible involvement in Michael Harding’s death, several sources told the Appeal Democrat in Marysville.

On Thursday, Dec. 8, she had been arrested on suspicion of breaking into a home in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and taking a dog that had belonged to her husband. She was released the following day, and on Saturday, Dec. 10, a mail carrier found her dead in the yard of a home she owned in Clay County, Tenn.

Sheriff Brandon Boone said on Tuesday that it had not yet been determined if the shooting death was homicide or suicide.

Brian Wittmer, who has been named acting commander for Yuba-Sutter CHP, told the Appeal Democrat that Harding had been on leave because of an injury.

Michael Harding, 53, who had been living in Clay County, went missing in September, the sheriff’s office said. According to radio station WUCT, he was found fatally shot that month in adjacent Cumberland County, Kentucky.

The Murfreesboro woman who alleged Julie Harding had broken into her home to get the dog had also described other stalking and trespassing in a police report in October. The woman, who said Michael Harding had been her boyfriend, said the widow had been harassing her, including accessing her Netflix account and changing the profile names and pictures.

Julie Harding had been with the CHP since 1999 and became Yuba-Sutter commander in 2018.

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